Thoughts on the military and military activities of a diverse nature. Free-ranging and eclectic.

Wednesday, February 04, 2004

This is coolbert: Navies of say two hundred years ago had a brutal reputation. The British were famous/infamous for the practice of the "press gang". This practice was one of the reasons for the War of 1812 between the U.S. and Britain. Force crews of merchant ships to serve on British warships against their will. Was a legal practice at the time. The American Navy, in contrast, seems to have escaped this practice and has always had crews that operated with a high level of motivation and esprit. Crews of even two hundred years ago were more or less volunteer and served willingly even under conditions of privation. Good crews in good ships seem to make for an unbeatable combination. When speaking of the U.S. Navy, the ship U.S.S. Constitution and it's highly motivated crew, Lord Nelson remarked, "I see big trouble from those fast frigates from across the sea".